All eyes on the world stage for women’s hockey — News from around the hockey world
The IX: Hockey Friday with The Ice Garden, April 11, 2025
Happy Friday! Melissa Burgess from The Ice Garden (TIG) here, bringing you the latest from the world of women’s hockey. It’s an important time of year for international women’s hockey, as the various world championships are either currently underway or coming up very soon.
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Top division
The top division world championships began on April 9 in České Budějovice, Czechia. This tournament is probably the one you’re most familiar with; this year, it includes Canada and the United States, as well as Czechia, Finland and Switzerland (all in Group A), along with Germany, Hungary, Japan, Norway and Sweden in Group B.
The United States opened its tournament with a decisive 7-1 win over Finland on Wednesday, while Canada shut out Finland 5-0 on Thursday. Sweden is 2-0 after defeating Germany and Hungary, while Czechia nabbed an impressive 3-0 win over Switzerland. Japan won its lone game so far, a 5-2 decision over Norway, in the first-ever IIHF meeting between the two teams.
Sweden’s Linnea Johansson leads the tournament with four points, including three assists, while Japan’s Suzuka Maeda had three points (all assists) in her team’s lone game so far. For the United States, Kelly Pannek and Hayley Scamurra have each registered two goals.
Here’s the rest of the preliminary round schedule:
Friday, April 11: Hungary vs. Japan, Switzerland vs. Canada, USA vs. Czechia
Saturday, April 12: Norway vs. Germany, Finland vs. Czechia
Sunday, April 13: Hungary vs. Norway, Japan vs. Sweden, Canada vs. USA
Monday, April 14: Germany vs. Hungary, Switzerland vs. Finland, Czechia vs. Canada
Tuesday, April 15: Norway vs. Sweden, Germany vs. Japan, USA vs. Switzerland
All five teams in Group A will qualify for the playoff round, along with the top three teams in Group B. The other two Group B teams will be relegated to Division 1A for the 2026 tournament.
Here’s the full game schedule, player stats and current standings. Don’t forget to check out The Ice Garden for details on how to watch — your options really depend on where you’re located!
Division 1A
The Division 1, Group A women’s world championships are happening April 13-19 in Shenzhen, China, and featuring Austria, China, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Slovakia. The two best teams at the end of the tournament will be promoted to the top division for the 2026 tournament, while the lowest-ranked team will be relegated to Division 1B, so there’s plenty at stake here.
This is a round robin tournament. Final rankings are determined by the number of points a team garners, with tiebreakers including head-to-head points and head-to-head goal differential.
Here’s the game schedule:
Sunday, April 13: Netherlands vs. France, Austria vs. Denmark, Slovakia vs. China
Monday, April 14: Denmark vs. Netherlands, France vs. Slovakia, China vs. Austria
Wednesday, April 16: Slovakia vs. Austria, Denmark vs. France, China vs. Netherlands
Thursday, April 17: Denmark vs. Slovakia, Austria vs. Netherlands, France vs. China
Saturday, April 19: Netherlands vs. Slovakia, France vs. Austria, China vs. Denmark
You’ll be able to find more information about the tournament here, including scores and stats. Players to watch in this tournament include New York Sirens forward Chloé Aurard (France) and up-and-coming young superstar Nela Lopušanová (Slovakia).
Division 1B
The Division 1, Group B women’s world championships are currently underway, having begun April 9 and running through April 15 in Dumfries, Great Britain. The teams in this tournament are: South Korea, Latvia, Italy, Great Britain, Slovenia and Kazakhstan.
Same as the Division 1A tournament, this is also round robin. Final rankings are determined by the number of points a team garners, with tiebreakers including head-to-head points and head-to-head goal differential. The top team will be promoted to Division 1A for the 2026 tournament, while the lowest-ranked team will be relegated to the 2026 Division 2A tournament.
There have been some significant goal differentials in a few of the games so far, with Slovenia losing both of its games so far by 12-0 (Italy) and 11-2 (Latvia) scores. Other games, like Korea’s 3-2 overtime win over Great Britain, have been closer. Oh, and Italy outshot Slovenia 70-12 in that game, in case you were wondering.
Here’s the remaining game schedule:
Saturday, April 12: South Korea vs. Slovenia, Latvia vs. Italy, Kazakhstan vs. Great Britain
Sunday, April 13: Italy vs. South Korea, Latvia vs. Kazakhstan, Great Britain vs. Slovenia
Tuesday, April 15: Slovenia vs. Kazakhstan, South Korea vs. Latvia, Italy vs. Great Britain
You can find player stats here, and the standings here.
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Around the hockey world
Women’s Worlds quick questions with Czechia Goaltender Klára Peslarová — The Ice Garden Chatting with Czechia goaltender Klára Peslarová as her team has ‘home ice advantage’ for Worlds. ($)
Five women’s hockey stars to watch out for at Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics — Olympics.com Before you know it, we’ll be talking about the Olympics, which are just around the corner in less than a year’s time. Who are some of the players to watch?
UCF students push for first women’s hockey club — The Charge Growing the game truly means at all levels! A group of students at the University of Central Florida are working to create its first-ever women’s hockey team.
E.l.f. Cosmetics deepens work in women’s sports through partnership with hockey star Kendall Coyne Schofield — Forbes The cosmetics line has begun investing in women’s sports, from race car driver Katherine Legge and Paralympic swimmer Anastasia Pagonis to the PWHL and NWSL. Now, it’s sponsoring Minnesota Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield.
Five things to watch as Canada aims to repeat as world champions of women’s hockey — CBC As Canada looks to defend its gold medal at Women’s Worlds, CBC’s Karissa Donkin highlights a few key points for the team.
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